“Years” is the first documentary series devoted to climate change ever to appear on a major network or premium cable.

“New Season Scheduled to Air Just Over a Week Before the Presidential Election,” as the National Geographic Channel (NGC) release proclaims in its sub-head.

NGC’s majority owner (73 percent) is 21st Century Fox, part of Rupert Murdoch’s media empire, which is well known for its climate disinformation.

Last fall, many people expressed concern about how science and climate coverage would be treated when National Geographic Society expanded its long-standing partnership with Fox to include National Geographic magazine and its online media platforms in a $725 million deal. After all, there is so little climate or clean energy programming on any major TV channel, the U.S. media in general have under-reported the story of the century, and, as we ourselves have reported over the years, “Watching Fox News Addicts Viewers And Misinforms Them On Climate Change.”

Having already seen the footage for the early episodes of Season 2 (in my role as Chief Science Advisor), I can personally attest that this season’s science-driven episodes are every bit as blunt about the urgent nature of the climate crisis as Season 1 was. And this time around we have even more material on the necessary solutions, from aggressive deployment of clean energy to a price on carbon.

Last year, Courteney Monroe, the CEO of National Geographic Channels, explained why NGC picked up the show: “By combining the access and reputation of National Geographic with Hollywood’s brightest minds and journalism’s heaviest hitters, we plan to create even greater impact with the new season and awaken all of us to the reality of our global situation.”

Being on National Geographic Channel means “Years” will be available in almost 90 million U.S. homes (four times the reach of Showtime) and in over 440 million homes in 171 countries and 45 languages worldwide. James Cameron and Schwarzenegger are once again executive producers, along with co-creators (and former “60 Minutes” producers) Joel Bach and David Gelber who together have 13 Emmys.

As for Fox, it bears repeating that the Murdoch empire was split in 2013, and the part that owns NGC is 21st-Century Fox, which, as of last August, is run by Rupert’s son, James. James Murdoch and his wife Kathryn are sustainability advocates. As the New York Times reported last week, Kathryn “is a trustee of the Environmental Defense Fund and a former director at the Clinton Climate Initiative.”

Personally, I have been extremely impressed with the fact-checking team at NGC, which is far more informed and engaged than any fact checkers I have ever worked with (TV or print). Indeed, I believe Season 2 of “Years of Living Dangerously” is actually better than Season 1 — even though Season 1 won the 2014 Emmy for outstanding non-fiction TV series, and Daily Kos called it “the most important television series ever.” The Guardian named it “the most important climate change multimedia communication endeavor in history.” Schwarzenegger has said, “This season, I hope to make an even more powerful statement that will inspire people to lead and demand change to make our world a better place for future generations.”

3 Responses to “New ‘Years of Living Dangerously” Season Expands Reach on (Murdoch owned) NatGeo”

Thanks for this reminder. I updated my calendar to record the series. I just finished reading Hugh Naylor’s article from yesterday’s (8/10) Washington Post (An epic Middle East heat wave could be global warming’s hellish curtain-raiser). It was very well written. My only criticism is Nalor’s use of the word ‘could.’ In the first paragraph he notes that ‘…climate experts warn that the severe weather could be a harbinger of worse to come.’ Do I see evidence of the editor’s blue pen? The rest of the article does not mince words about causes and consequences, and is as blunt as any episode of the Years of Living Dangerously series. I was reminded of Pal and Eltahir’s study in last September’s Nature Climate Change on web bulb temps in the region around the Arabian Gulf–a truly frightening scholarly analysis. ‘Could be’ needs to be replaced by ‘is.’ Heat deaths are already happening.
This would also be a good news topic to post again here :).

At least Years Living Dangerously is airing on Netgeo and not Showtime. However, it would be even better if it was aired on a channel that is on basic cable. People really need to see this, even those who are too poor to have cable all together.